Greek to me

That's Greek to me or It's (all) Greek to me is an idiom/dead metaphor in English, claiming that an expression is incomprehensible, either due to complexity or imprecision. The expression may be used with respect to verbal expressions with excessive jargon of dialect, mathematics, or science. The metaphor makes reference to the Greek language and the Greek alphabet (either ancient or modern).

The usage of the metaphor in English language traces back to early modern times:

but those that understood him smiled at one another and

shook their heads; but, for mine own part, it was Greek to me

(William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar (1599)

Ironically, this line worked literally. The speaker Casca has just returned from a celebration at which he says that Cicero spoke in Greek, and "it was Greek to me."

The expression is almost exclusively used with reference to the speaker (generally "Greek to me"; rarely or never "Greek to him").

It may have been a direct translation of a similar phrase in Latin: "Graecum est; non legitur" ("it is Greek, [therefore] it cannot be read"). This phrase was increasingly used by monk scribes in the Middle Ages, as knowledge of Greek was dwindling among those who were copying manuscripts in monastic libraries.

Different languages have similar formulations. Many have picked the point of reference to be a foreign language with another alphabet or writing system.

This is an example of the usage of demonyms in relation to the ability of a people to be understood, comparable to the development of the words barbarian (one who babbles), Nemecky (Slavic for "one who is not understood", indicating Germans).

In other languages

Language	Phrase	Pronunciation	"target" language
English	It's Double Dutch.		Dutch
English	That's Greek to me.		Greek
Arabic	.يتحدث باللغة الصينية	Yataḥaddaṯ bil-luġah al-Ṣīnīyah jataħadːaθ bilːuɣah al-sˤiːniːjah	Chinese
Arabic	.يحكي كرشوني	Yaḥkī Karšūnī jaħkiː karʃuːniː	Garshuni
Bulgarian	Все едно ми говориш на китайски.	fse ed'nɔ mi gɔ'vɔriʃ na ki'tajski	Chinese
Chavacano	Aleman ese comigo.		German
Chinese Mandarin	看起來像天書。	Kàn qílái xiàng tiānshū	"Book from the Heaven" (Referring to an unknown writing system.)
Chinese Mandarin	聽起來像鳥語。	Tīng qílái xiàng niǎoyǔ	"Sounds/tongue of the Birds" (Unknown phonology system.)
Chinese Cantonese	呢啲喺雞腸呀。		"Chicken Intestines", referring to English
Croatian	To su za mene španska sela.	ˈtô su za ˈměne ˈʂpǎːnska ˈsêla	Spanish
Dutch	Dat is Chinees voor mij.	dat ɪs ʃineːs vɔr mɛi	Chinese
Esperanto	Tio estas Volapukaĵo.	ˈtio ˈestas ˌvolapuˈkaʒo	Volapük
Finnish	Täyttä hepreaa.	tæytːæ hepreɑː	Hebrew
French	C'est du chinois.	sɛ dy ʃi.nwa	Chinese
German	Das kommt mir spanisch vor.	das komt miɐ ʃpanɪʃ foɐ	Spanish
Greek	Αὐτὰ μοῦ φαίνονται κινέζικα.	afˈta mu ˈfenonde kiˈnezika	Chinese
Hebrew	זה סינית בשבילי	ze sinit biʃvili	Chinese
Hungarian	Ez nekem kínai.	ɛz nɛkɛm kiːnɒɪ	Chinese
Italian	Questo per me è arabo/aramaico/ostrogoto	per me ˈkwesto ɛ ˈarabo/aramaiko/ostrogoto	Arabic, Aramaic, Ostrogoth
Japanese	ちんぷんかんぷん	chin pun kan pun	Chinese
Latin	Graecum est; non legitur	'grɛkum 'est 'non 'leʒitur	Greek
Latvian	Tā man ir ķīniešu ābece	taː man ir kiːnieʃu aːbetse	Chinese
Lithuanian	Tai man kaip kinų kalba.	taɪ mɐn kaɪp kinuˑ kɐlba	Chinese
Low Saxon	Dat kümmt mi spaansch vör.	dat kymt miː spoːnʃ føɐ	Spanish
Persian	انگار ژاپنی حرف می زنه		Japanese
Polish	To dla mnie chińszczyzna.	to dla mɲe xʲiɲʃtʃɪzna	Chinese
Portuguese	Isto é chinês/grego para mim.	ɪstu ɛ ʃines pɐrɐ mĩ	Chinese/Greek
Romanian	Esti turc?	əʃti ˈt̪yɾk	Turkish
Russian	Это для меня китайская грамота.	ˈɛtə dlʲa meˈɲa kɪˈtaɪskəjə ˈgramətə	Chinese
Serbian	То су за мене шпанска села. To su za mene španska sela.	to su za mɛnɛ ʃpaŋska sɛla	Spanish
Serbian	Ко да кинески причаш. Ko da kineski pričaš.		Chinese
Sinhalese	Melo Huththak Therennae.		Sinhalese
Slovak	To je pre mňa španielska dedina.	to je pre mnʲa ʃpanʲielska dʲedʲina	Spanish
Slovene	To mi je španska vas	to mi je ʃpanska vas	Spanish
Spanish	Esto me suena a chino.	ˈesto me ˈswena a ˈtʃino	Chinese
Swedish	Det är rena grekiskan.	de æ reːnɑ greːkɪskɑn	Greek
Turkish	Konuya Fransız kaldım.	konuja fɾansɯz kaldɯm	French
Ukrainian	Це для мене китайська грамота.	tsɛ dlʲɐ 'mɛne kɪ'tɑjsʲkɐ 'ɦrɑmo̞tɐ	Chinese
Yiddish	ס'איז תּרגום־לשון צו מיר	sɪz targumloʃn tsu miɐ	Aramaic

See also

• Greeking
• Writing system

External links

• Translations of "it's all Greek to me" on Omniglot.com
• Translations of "it's all Greek to me" on Wordreference.com